Leader of the Launchies
by Araelia Lambert
Summary: Tig is perhaps the stupidest girl in her Launch, and yet she somehow gains authority. She hangs with a few basic soldiers, most from the Lion and Rabbit armies, and Launchies. Goal: to someday become a toon leader. Problem: she has no idea how to lead


Leader of the Launchies  
  
Description: Tig is just a new girl in battle school trying to dominate so she can rise in the ranks. She's a little on the slow side (for a battle student), and she's not that good with her people skills. Somehow she manages to makes friends and she certainly gains her share of enemies while discovering tactics that will save her hide in the Room. Set 200 years after Ender's Game, in a time when the Saedri are the new threat, when there is a considerable decrease in the intelligence of the children, when a prodigy named Phalkyn is the idol that all except Tig want to become.  
  
Disclaimer: Ender's world, the Battle School, and basically the whole plot is copyrighted to Orson Scott Card. I bow at the feet of this awesome author, and hope that my fanfic doesn't disgrace his world too much. Tig, Zeebee, Phalkyn, and all of those other current-day characters are mine.  
  
A/N: you'll probably notice soon that all of the main current-day characters are named after animals. Each character has a story behind their name which should unfold at some point durring the plot. If you've any questions, feel free to email me or post them on the review. Also about reviews: they are an author's best friend. I would really prefer if you would tell me what I did wrong though, instead of just stating that you didn't like the story. "this stinks," is not a review. "the part of the story I didn't like was -insert part of story here-" is what I'm asking for. I want/love/need critiques. If you want a good story, you have to tell me what was wrong with what I've already got. I'll keep writing even if you don't reveiw, I'm not the kind to pressure you into it, though you won't get any problems fixed if no one brings the problems to my attention.  
  
Another A/N: I realize this sounds Sue-ish, and it may be: let the books be your guide to judgement. This is my first Ender fanfic, and I'm just trying to get the writing style working. I am currently attempting to convince myself that she can't be a Sue because she's a bully, though I've seen a few bully-Sues around. When you spot the Sue-ishness coming out in the story, PLEASE inform me of it in some way. I'm trying to keep this fanfic from going down the drain, and I don't think that can happen without the help of some Sue-spotters.  
  
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"You look just like Phalkyn."  
  
If Tig heard that phrase one more time, she would scream. Being compared to a legend you were nothing like was bad enough. Being compared to the same legend you were nothing like eighteen times in one day was pure torture.  
  
A boy walked past her, then whirled about. He brushed his long mohogany hair out of his eyes and gave her a strange look. He raised one finger in a motion of one trying to remember where he's seen something before. His mouth opened slightly as he waited for the answer to come. Finally he began to speak.  
  
"You know. . . you look like -"  
  
"If you say I look like Phalkyn, this fist goes into your skull!" Tig snarled, green eyes ablaze in unbridled fury. She took a threatening step towards the boy who was giving her a look of contempt. She had snapped, and the expression on her face showed it. The boy regarded her calmly with a dull facade.  
  
"I was going to say 'you look like you need directions,' though I do see a resemblence now that you mention it. . ."  
  
Tig had to hold her arm tight to keep from reaching out and strangling someone. She wasn't quite sure if it would be the boy or herself, but she was certain that someone would be hurt if she let go of her wrist. Her fingers were leaving little red marks in her own flesh as she struggled to control her angry embarassment. Her teeth were clamped firmly on the end of her tongue to keep herself from yelling anything that she might regret later. After all, this boy could come in handy when she had her own group.  
  
The boy seemed to have realized his mistake. His gaze cast about as he waited until the anger drained from her features. He gave her a bright, confident smile now and held out his hand helpfully.  
  
"I'm Zeebee, nice to meet you . . . ?"  
  
"Tig," she supplied brusquely, hesitating slightly before extending her own hand to shake. "Launchy, hoping to get pr'moted soon. What rank do you hold?"  
  
She gave him a calculating glance, trying to add up how he could be of use to her. . . and not doing too well. Tig had been highest in her class on the academics portion of the testing, though her logic had left a bit to be wished for. She had been taken to the Battle School only because of the extreme lack of students eligible at the time. It seemed that the world had hit a dry spell of intellectual youths. Prehaps all of the brilliance had been wasted in a single generation, what with the legendary Ender, Bean, Alai, Demosthenes and Locke all in the same time. There had been no wealth of intelligence to draw from. . . and so, Tig was accepted.  
  
"I'm a basic soldier in the Rabbit Army. My toon leader is Kaengru Rardi of the D toon and my commander is F'line."  
  
Tig nodded pensively, storing away the information as best she could. . . though with her short-term memory, 'the best she could' would probably last about two weeks.  
  
Silence hung between the two for a long moment. Zeebee cleared his throat in an attempt to break the quiet mood, but ceased after a quick glance from Tig.  
  
"You up for a practice in the Room?" she challenged, tilting her shoulders in a nonchalant way.  
  
Zeebee shrugged, then nodded. A smirk gathered on Tig's tan features.  
  
"Good. Let me go round up a few students to be our practice toons."  
  
With that statement made, the girl turned on heel and jogged off to find a few Launchies to control. Though she wasn't the smartest in the group, Tig had gained leadership through her slightly intimidating appearance and her loud voice. The way her straight eyebrows perched sollomly atop her dark green eyes gave her a threatening aura, though her hair was what really did it. Her brown locks had been put into a multitude of tiny braids, making it look as though braided worms were squeezing from her head. Each was tied with a shoelace. The story went that she stole the shoelaces of the children she had beated in fights at home. Of course, she no longer bothered with this bullying ritual durring her stay at Battle School (as she was still a Launchy with no influence over others) though it served as a nice reminder to her supposed prowess. . . now it was time to see if the smaller ones would listen as she asserted her dominance over them.  
  
~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤~¤ ~¤~¤~¤~¤~  
  
Ten minutes later, Zeebee was still waiting outside the Room. Bored of waiting for the Launchy to find practice partners that wouldn't practice with her, he jogged off to see if he could catch a few of his 'friends' to work with them. He talked his toon into practicing with them, then asked a friend he saw in the halls.  
  
"Ho, Kebi."  
  
"Ho, Zeebee."  
  
"You 'n' the Lions wanna practice for a bit? I promised some little Launchy I would work with her, and now she's run off to find some practice toons. . . you know Launchies, that will take her a while. Can you round up your group and work with us?"  
  
"Eh, I know what you mean about the Launchy thing. I guess me 'n' the rest of 'em can work with you for a bit."  
  
Kebi put his fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly down the hall. A return whistle from close-by assured him that his call had been heard by Timo. Timo would gather the toon and bring them in for a 'voluntary' practice. And of course, Kebi would get extra recognition for catching them a practice. He grinned at the thought, counting the days until Leon would promote him to a Lion toon leader, demoting Timo to a normal soldier.  
  
"They'll be here in five minutes. . . or else."  
  
The two commrads continued to chat amiably while waiting for their practice partners to arrive. Though Zeebee had been transfered, the friendship of the two had remained. It was weaker than it had once been, as competition taking it's toll on the two. They watched eachother guardedly durring practices, both trying to be sure that the other would not steal their ideas. Rabbit and Lion armies did not get along very well, and these two had to struggle to keep their toons in the same practice room. Today was sure to be another such practice, Kebi was sure of that before Timo's toon even arrived. The day would be filled with rivalry, both serious and playful. Now all they had to do was wait for the toon and Tig's Launchies to arrive. 


End file.
